HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SECTION 2007
Meet the role players on Friday nights who are role models the rest of the week.
08 02 2007 - TAMPA - Plant senior receiver Derek Winter spent a portion of his summer proving his heart may be as soft as his hands, which caught 90 passes last season. Winter, who owns a 5.3 GPA, spent five days in the Panhandle village of Cape San Blas as a counselor at a Muscular Dystrophy Association-sponsored camp. Among the activities in which Winter engaged the children: kayaking, Frisbee and "a lot of pool time." Posing with Winter is 17-year-old Mitchell High student David Masterson, who befriended Panthers coach Bob Weiner and assistant T.J. Lane at a similar camp in Brandon. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
07 17 2007 - TAMPA - Reliability, it seems, runs through the bloodlines of Middleton senior quarterback DeAndre Presley’s family. Presley, who periodically wears a tie to school to distinguish himself, says he has missed no more than two days of school since arriving at Middleton. Similarly, his 9-year-old half-brother, Keon Graham, hasn’t missed a day in the last two years; and 12-year-old half-brother Aeon Graham doesn’t remember his last absence. Attendance awards are displayed prominently on the wall of the boys’ maternal grandmother, Aretha Kelly. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 18 2007 - LUTZ - Versatility is essential when your team has only 20 players, and perhaps no one on the Tampa Bay Christian roster possesses a more diverse range of skills than three-way senior Matt Reynolds. A collector of tools, Reynolds can take apart and reassemble his Goped BigFoot scooter, loves tinkering with his bright-yellow 2001 GMC Sierra pickup, sketches house designs, and spent the past two summers drilling wells for a local engineering firm. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 24 2007 - LUTZ - The palatial sanctuary of Idlewild Baptist Church stands in glaring contrast to the conditions Josh Lockwood weathered on a church-sponsored mission trip to the Dominican Republic last summer. A Cambridge Christian safety, Lockwood slept in a apartment with no air conditioning while spending his waking hours in 100-degree feel-like temperatures. playing baseball and ministering to youngsters. His next mission: the military. An honor student with a 4.2 GPA, Lockwood plans to apply to both the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 24 2007 - TAMPA - Tampa Catholic left tackle Justin Carter has spent the last two summers proving he’s just as effective on a food line as he is the Crusaders’ offensive line. A volunteer at Metropolitan Ministries, Carter spends roughly one night a week during the summer collecting meal tickets or spooning entrees onto plates. Additionally, Carter, who has a 3.5 GPA, works as a counselor at the Bob Sierra YMCA and serves as an usher at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 26 2007 - TAMPA - Berkeley Prep 6-foot-4 senior Archie Barnes’ move from receiver to quarterback this season hardly will represent the first transition of his life. The son of an Air Force colonel, Barnes has lived in Germany, New York, Alabama, Nebraska, Virginia and Florida — taking some solid academic transcripts to each new home. A three-sport star for the Buccaneers, Barnes owns a 3.2 GPA and had just finished a pre-calculus exam when this photo was shot. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 08 2007 - DOVER - You be the judge of which is the better balancing act: Grant Sizemore on his unicycle, or the way the Durant senior balances football and academics. A senior left tackle with a whopping 6.28 weighted GPA, Sizemore will contend for valedictorian honors. Among his senior-year courses: advance-placement classes in physics, calculus, world history, English literature and environmental science. And like any proficient tackle, Sizemore can master a block, even the small, multi-colored ones. At a recent visit to the Times’ downtown Tampa office, the aspiring pre-med student solved the Rubik’s cube in less than two minutes. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 07 2007 - TAMPA - Chamberlain senior captains Justin Bell and Deven Persaud aren't joined at the proverbial hip, it just seems that way. Both of the self-described best friends play in the Chiefs' secondary, possess GPAs above 3.0 and spent their weekday afternoons entertaining kids at a city-sponsored recreation program at Al Lopez Park. Not surprisingly, their football lockers are right next to each other. "We made sure we got that," Bell said. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 09 2007 - TAMPA - While not working out on campus, Alonso senior receiver Joe Clarke often submerges himself in exercise in the pool of his Citrus Park apartment complex. A Ravens team captain with a 2.9 GPA, Clarke also is a member of Alonso's Ladies and Gents club, which studies African-American history and culture. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 09 2007 - TAMPA - Whether planing for Leto or running errands in the office of HIllsborough County public defender Julianne Holt, Leto senior Marquis Nedd has proven himself quite versatile. Nedd, who has spent the past four summers as a "go-fer" in Holt's office, hopes to line up at running back, cornerback, and on special teams for the Falcons this season. Between jobs, he carries a 2.7 GPA and has drawn the interest of I-AA program Wagner College on New York's Staten Island. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 27 2007 - TAMPA - Newsome senior Chris Beemer typically lines up at strong tackle for the Wolves, but truth is, he can play just about anything — blues, country, even classic rock. An honor student with a 3.79 GPA, Beemer essentially taught himself how to play piano before gravitating to the guitar about four years ago. He currently owns four of them, but uses only one at a time when performing locally with his four-member band, New Direction. To protect his hands, he wears extra-fortified gloves on Friday nights. “You know what, it worries me sometimes, but it’s football, you know?” Beemer said. “You’ve just got to play hard.” BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 25 2007 - TAMPA - Of all the camp instructors at LaFleur’s Gymnastics in Carrollwood, few may be as experienced in working with young kids as Sickles junior two-way lineman Xander Morehouse. The oldest of six children, Morehouse has spent the last two summers assisting aspiring gymnasts and dodgeballers. A two-sport athlete with a 4.465 GPA, Morehouse spends the school year playing football, wrestling and leading the “Goobers” school spirit club. Last year, his Gryphons peers voted him Most Valuable Teammate. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 01 2007 - BRANDON - Though small (5-foot-7, 155 pounds) by linebacker standards, Bloomingdale junior C.J. Curran possesses what many deem an oversized heart. Shortly after returning from a two-week mission trip to Israel in June, the Bell Shoals Baptist Church member began volunteering in the food pantry at the Brandon-based Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO). Curran also has taken mission trips to Brazil and Kazakhstan, but said the Israel excursion, where he spent most of the time playing with orphans or neglected kids, especially touched him. “It was definitely cool to be a role model or father figure or brother to those kids who …just wanted to be loved,” he said. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 20 2007 - BRANDON - Brandon senior cornerback Tyrone Comer’s recent turn as instructor at the Brandon Youth Football Camp was only his latest community-service pursuit. Last spring, he solicited donations around his neighborhood for the American Cancer Society’s local Relay For Life event. He also has participated in area canned-food drives, according to Coach John Lima, and volunteered at some area March of Dimes functions. As if for good measure, the computer whiz with the 3.0 GPA adds, “I’m the nicest (varsity) guy to the JV kids.” BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 17 2007 - TAMPA - Plant City senior Keith Dawson, entering his third (yes, third) year as a team captain, has won the Coaches Award — presented by Raiders coaches — each of the last two years. He plans to play no fewer than three positions (running back, receiver, kick returner) in 2007. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 30 2007 - TAMPA - Bucs linebacker Ryan Nece (56) lunges at Houston's Samkon Gado (35) as a fight erupts in the first quarter. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 25 2007 - MIAMI - Bucs running back Cadillac Williams (24) warms up before the game. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 21 2007 - TAMPA - A bagpiper plays "Amazing Grace" during the burial service for Hillsborough County Sheriff's Sgt. Ronald Harrison held Tuesday at Gardens of Memories. Harrison was shot and killed in his patrol car in Brandon last week. Times staff slideshow. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 18 2007 - JACKSONVILLE - Overly ambitious Bucs fans await the arrival of players before their preseason game against the Jaguars. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 15 2007 - TAMPA - James Hurst works with the cleaning crew at Legends Field in Tampa on Sunday. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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07 25 2007 - GAINESVILLE - University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, photographed in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 10 2007 - Brooks Timmons, 12, of Brooksville, cheers for Jeff Garcia as the new quarterback leaves the field after the Bucs' 13-10 win over the New England Patriots to open the preseason at Raymond James Stadium. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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08 10 2007 - The Patriots' Mike Richardson breaks up a pass intended for the Bucs' Chad Lucas (15) in the third quarter. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times
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